Three persons were asphyxiated, allegedly while cleaning a 10-foot-deep water sump in a hotel on Perambur High Road on Saturday afternoon. Two persons, Mohan Rao (58), the owner of the restaurant and Gopi (38), the manager have been arrested in connection with the case.
The names of the victims were given as Ramakrishnan (20), Chappa Vinay (22), and Satish (21) from Lakshmipuram in Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh.
According to the police, the three victims had been working in the hotel in front of the Perambur Railway Station for the past few years. Around 1.30 p.m., Ramakrishan opened the sump, which had been closed for the past one-and-a-half months, to clean it. “He is suspected to have become unconscious due to the fumes and fell inside. Satish and Vinay got in, one after the other, to rescue him. But all thee three were asphyxiated,” said a police officer.
The customers in the hotel were asked to leave and it was shut. Police were informed about the tragedy and the bodies were sent to Kilpauk Medical College for post-mortem examination. Sembium police are investigating.
According to the hotel management, it had lodged a complaint with the Metrowater about poor water supply nearly 50 days ago. “The Metrowater staff came and dug a pit right outside the hotel on Saturday. As the flow was proper till the ditch, they asked us to check if there was supply in the sump, situated near the kitchen. The three men went to check the level and that is when the accident occurred. We did not know that there was poisonous gas in the water sump,” said a management staff.
Meanwhile, some hotel staff claimed that Kanakaraj, another employee of the hotel, tried to get in after the three fell. “But he felt dizzy and was taken away. The sump, meant to store drinking water, has not been cleaned for a few years,” alleged a staff.
Meanwhile, activists demanded that the hotel owner and manager be booked under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
M. Ramanaiah, organising secretary, Tamil Nadu Adi Andhra Arunthathia Maha Sabha, said the police should not register a case of suspicious or unnatural death. “The provisions under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 should be invoked and due compensation provided to the families of the victims. We suspect that the sump was not cleaned regularly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chennai Corporation health officials, who visited the hotel, said they were not sure if this could be considered manual scavenging as it was a water sump. “We will decide on the appropriate action after the post-mortem. However, we will insist on compensation immediately,” said a city health officer.
